''Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five'' was released in 1984 by

Sugarhill Records Sugar Hill Records is an American bluegrass and Americana record label. It was founded in Durham, North Carolina in 1978 by Barry Poss and David Freeman, the owner of County Records and Rebel Records. Poss acquired full control of Sugar Hill ...

after the split between

Grandmaster Flash Joseph Saddler (born January 1, 1958), popularly known by his stage name Grandmaster Flash, is an American DJ and rapper. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Hip Hop DJing, cutting, scratching and mixing. Grandmaster Flash and the Fur ...

and

Melle Mel Melvin Glover (born May 15, 1961 in The Bronx), better known by his stage name Grandmaster Melle Mel (or simply Melle Mel) () is an American hip hop recording artist who was the lead vocalist and songwriter of Grandmaster Flash and the Furiou ...

. For this album, Melle Mel kept the group name 'the Furious Five' (although the line-up changed) and used the title 'Grandmaster'. Rappers Cowboy and Scorpio left with Melle Mel although Mel's brother

The Kidd Creole Nathaniel Glover (born February 19, 1960), also known as Nate or Danny Glover and better known by the stage name Kidd Creole, is a former American rapper. He was a member of the pioneering old school hip hop group Grandmaster Flash & the Furio ...

(N. Glover) and Rahiem remained with Flash. New rappers King Lou, Kami Kaze, and Tommy Gunn joined, as did Flash's best friend E. Z. Mike as DJ. In some territories outside the US, the album had the title ''Work Party''. The album saw its first reissue on CD in 2005 by

Collectors' Choice Music Collectors' Choice Music (CCM) is an Itasca, Illinois, company originally primarily in two businesses, but since 2010 only in the second. CCM was best known for reissuing albums originally recorded in LP record form as compact discs. , its catalog ...

(CCM-582-2).

Track listing

#"Hustlers Convention" – 6:14 #"Yesterday" – 4:55 #"At the Party" – 3:40 #"White Lines (New Re-mix)" – 4:29 #"We Don't Work For Free" – 4:07 #"The Truth" – 5:06 #"World War III" – 8:11 #"Can't Keep Running Away" – 4:34 #"The New Adventures of Grandmaster" – 5:39

Personnel

– Vocals *Scorpio – Vocals *Cowboy – Vocals *Tommy Gunn – Vocals *Kami Kaze – Vocals *King Lou – Vocals * Clayton Savage – Vocals *Grandmaster E. Z. Mike – Spinner

Musicians

*Horn section – Sammy Lowe *Bass –

Doug Wimbish Douglas Arthur Wimbish (born September 22, 1956) is an American bass player, primarily known for being a member of rock band Living Colour and funk/dub/hip hop collective Tackhead, and as a session musician with artists such as Sugarhill Gang, ...

*Guitars – Bernard Alexander *Keyboards – Clayton Savage and Scorpio *Drum programming – Scorpio *Lead singers on ''Yesterday'', ''At the Party'' and ''Can't Keep Running Away'' – Scorpio and Clayton Savage *All scratching executed by Leland Robinson (Vicious Lee)

Credits

Produced by Melle Mel, Scorpio and Cowboy with the exception of ''White Lines'' and ''Hustlers Convention''. ''White Lines'' and ''Hustlers Convention'' produced by

Sylvia Robinson Sylvia Robinson (née Vanderpool; May 29, 1935 – September 29, 2011) was an American singer, record producer, and record label executive. Robinson achieved success as a performer on two R&B chart toppers: as half of Mickey & Sylvia with ...

and Melle Mel.

References

Groups Official Website
1984 albums American hip hop groups Melle Mel albums {{1980s-hiphop-album-stub